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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. drill — the tool
  4. cold — not warm
  5. march — music
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. scale — in music
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cold — an illness
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. clip — a video
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. stand — to bear
  23. scale — size or range
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com